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The weirder, goofier literary successor to Poe, Howard Phillips Lovecraft's short horror stories have inspired everyone from Stephen King to director Guillermo del Toro. Lovecraft has been dead for more than 70 years now, but his following is larger than ever.

"There's just something really visceral where he [Lovecraft] strikes a chord with a lot of people," says festival organizer Aaron Vanek. With his own mythology (often called the Cthulhu Mythos), settings taken from real life and recurring themes, Lovecraft created his own world -- a world that fans still live in today. "There's this appeal for those that are interested in horror that's creepy, that's gothic, that's weird... that's far more than a lot of slasher, gory stuff."

Feature films at the festival include "In the Mouth of Madness" and "The Unnamable" --plus "Dagon," presented by director Stuart Gordon, who will be in attendance.

The festival will feature short films, too, like "The Banshee Bride" from director Jason Voss and "Reset," from Swedish directors Fredrik Åkerström and Marcus Kryler.

Tickets range in price from $20 to $125 for a VIP pass, or, if you can't make it to San Pedro, you can buy a "There in Spirit" pass, which gets you access to a LiveStream of the festival and the film shorts. More info on tickets here.

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Off-Ramp is a lively weekly look at Southern California through the eyes and ears of radio veteran John Rabe. News, arts, home, life... covering everything that makes life here exciting, enjoyable, and interesting.